President Buhari Endorses New Minimum Wage

According to reports, President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed the new minimum wage of N30,000 proposed by the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage.

It is gathered that the President gave the approval on Tuesday shortly after the report of the committee was presented to him.

While promising to forward new minimum wage bill to National Assembly for action, he urged Nigerian workers against being used as political weapons. The organised labour had threatened to commence nationwide strike on Tuesday if the government did not agree on N30,000.

The federal government had initially proposed N24,000, while state government offered to pay N22,500 to workers but labour rejected the proposals, insisting on N30,000.

Ayuba Wabba, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), had told reporters on Monday that the decision to suspend the industrial action was taken after agreements were reached.

“Having reached this position and agreements signed, the proposed strike action is hereby suspended,” he said.

Wabba had refused to disclose the amount arrived at, saying it would be made public after the committee had submitted its report to Buhari He thanked stakeholders for their understanding while particularly, appreciating the role of the private sector.